Be cautious with new storm slabs in the avalanche start zones that could be triggered by solar radiation and cornices today and run to valley bottom.
Weather Forecast
Sunny today with the freeze line rising to 1000m elevation. Precipitation resumes on sunday with 9cm snow.
Snowpack Summary
20cm fell overnight bringing the weekly storm snow total to 80cm. Strong southerly winds redistributed the new snow with increased loading on lee features. Storm snow is settling into a cohesive slab on a buried crust down about 30 to 70cm on all aspects up to 2000m, and higher on solar aspects. Surface snow was moist below 1500m yesterday.
Avalanche Summary
A storm with strong winds and rapid snow loading produced a cycle of avalanches up to size 3.5 yesterday. Many smaller avalanches were observed running on top of a crust down 30-70cm (depending on local wind effect) and should be expected to continue to be a possibility today especially with strong sunshine in the forecast.
Confidence
Timing of incoming weather systems is uncertain
Problems
Storm Slabs
Storm Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer (a slab) of new snow that breaks within new snow or on the old snow surface. Storm-slabs typically last between a few hours and few days (following snowfall). Storm-slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.
Cornices
Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.